Control is key to good looking landscape

Right about now is a good time to look over your landscape and evaluate how things are growing. Our long growing season, combined with adequate soil fertility and water, can produce abundant and even rampant growth in landscape plantings. As we approach late summer, it is likely that beds of annuals, perennials and tropicals may benefit from the controlling hand of the gardener.

Plants grow larger than expected and start crowding other plants. Tall plants shade out or fall over onto smaller plants. Plants spread into areas where they were not intended to grow. Vines develop a mind of their own and take off in totally unexpected directions. Without the guiding hand of the gardener, the resulting chaos can lead to disaster.

Some of these problems can be avoided by becoming familiar with a plant before you plant it into the landscape. In particular, you should always know what the mature size of a plant will be.

Another problem is planting beds with shrubs or bedding plants spaced too close together. Gardeners often want newly planted beds to look full and lush as soon as they are planted, without taking into consideration the growth the plants will make. A newly planted bed with plants properly spaced should not look full.

Even in a well-planned landscape, though, the controlling influence of the gardener is critical. The most useful methods for dealing with especially enthusiastic plants are pruning, supporting and barriers or digging out to prevent unwanted spreading.

When it comes to pruning, it's good to remember that it is better to prune lightly occasionally as needed, rather than allow a plant to get way overgrown and then have to cut it back severely. I almost always carry a pair of pruners with me when I walk through my garden.

Pruning can be used to control the size or shape of a plant or influence how it grows. Lightly trimming back a plant such as a coleus, hibiscus or impatiens every now and then will keep it more compact and bushy. Cutting wild shoots that occasionally occur on shrubs will keep them more shapely and attractive.

Staking or otherwise supporting plants is done to keep plants from leaning or falling over onto nearby plants.

Stakes may simply be placed in such a way that the plant is supported by leaning up against it. Or it may be necessary to tie the plant to the stake. Green, brown or black twine or plastic ties will be less obvious than other colors.

Another less-noticeable way to support plants involves using a brick or stone, which works remarkably well. Straighten the plant up into the desired position, and then wedge a brick or stone at the base.

Other techniques for support include tying twine in a loop all the way around a plant, using a wire cage (best done early in the growing season allowing the plant to grow into it), tying a plant to a sturdier, nearby plant and using one of the commercially available support systems, of which there are many.

Many perennials and tropicals spread by rhizomes underground – some fast and some slow. If growth shows up outside the area you have allotted for that plant, promptly dig out the unwanted growth and replant it somewhere else, pot it up and give it to a friend, or throw it away.